Mid-Michigan Dining

• 207 S. Bridge St.
• Grand Ledge, MI 48837
• (517) 622-8686
• No Known Website
• Menu

The Barn Tavern in Downtown Grand Ledge

We do so much shopping on the west side of Lansing that we’re starting to run out of places to eat.  We made our usual trip to Horrocks and Wal-Mart just before lunch time.  I was blanking on a new restaurant to eat at, so I said let’s make the short drive to Grand Ledge to see what they have to offer.  I keep hearing about Cugino’s, but I wasn’t in the mood for Italian.  We drove through the cute little downtown and saw a sign for The Barn.

The Barn Tavern doesn’t really look like it’s open when you drive in front on Bridge Street.  There are no windows and it kind of looks like it’s boarded up.  There was a lunch board outside advertising specials so I assumed that meant they were open for lunch.  We parked across the street then played Frogger to make it to the front.  The front door is in a little alcove and again, it feels like you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing.  It’s a very cramped area, but once you open that door and walk in, you get a totally different impression.  Instead of feeling like you’re walking in to a speakeasy, you feel like you’re walking into a place you’d like to call your home bar. 

The inside is huge.  There’s an area off to one side for live music and there’s a big bar in the middle of the room that serves all sides of the space.  There are a row of tables along the walll and there’s a couple pool tables.  The place is called “The Barn” because the inside looks like a barn.  The only cows and pigs have been slaughtered, frozen then cooked, but the decor and design of the place have the feeling of a turn of the century barn.  There are exposed, distressed beams throughout the interior and the walls are lined with cabinets filled with different trinkets. 

The Barn Tavern on Bridge Street in downtown Grand Ledge

We took a seat near the back of the bar.  The bartender came over for drink orders.  Again, I ordered a Pepsi, but I’m pretty sure I got a Diet.  Maybe the servers we’ve been getting recently are clairvoyant or something and know I really should be drinking Diet instead of regular, but still, funny it’s happened at the last three places we’ve been to. 

After he brought drinks back, he asked if we wanted menus.  He grabbed a couple and left us to look it over.  It’s a pretty basic bar menu.  There were a lot of sandwiches, burgers, and appetizers.  I ordered a bacon cheddar burger and added an order of fries.  The burger was cheap enough, I didn’t feel bad about paying a buck extra for the fries.  The 1/3 lb burger came served on an onion roll with two slices of bacon and cheddar cheese.  To my surprise, it also came with pickles, ketchup, and mustard.  Was not expecting that.  The burger was good, but obviously a frozen patty.  There wasn’t a ton of flavor or anything that stood, but it was satisfying.  The fries were a little soggy, but still, nothing I would complain about.  They were fine for me, but J doesn’t really like soggy fries, so I ended up with some of hers.

J ordered the Three Cheese Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  She was given the choice of white or wheat bread which came with American, Cheddar, and Swiss cheese.  It wasn’t a huge sandwich, but as we were sitting there, she said she liked it.  When we got home, she said everything tasted like it was frozen, so I’m not sure if that’s a “yay” or a “nay” on the sandwich.  Like I mentioned earlier, she added fries, but didn’t really like them due to the sogginess, so she passed what she didn’t eat over to me.

Our bill was just over $12.  You just can’t beat that price.  The Barn is an awesome bar.  It’s a place I could totally see myself hanging out at if I lived in Grand Ledge.  It’s a great space with decent pub food.  I’m not sure I would make the trip from Lansing to Grand Ledge just to eat there again,  but it is a place I would go to hang out though.